Garden Planner, March 2

Mar. 1, 2013

Written by

Stephanie Bruner

Special to the Register

This week

• If you need to have trees removed, get it scheduled soon to avoid bird-nesting season.

• New to gardening, or even just thinking about what new tools you need this year? There are a few basic garden tools that everyone should have: A spade that can be sharpened, a trowel or soil knife, a good pair of pruners, a pruning saw, enough good garden hose to reach anywhere in your yard, and a wheelbarrow or cart.

Depending on how you garden, you may also want loppers, trugs, buckets, a garden fork, gloves, a hat, waterproof shoes that are easy to kick off, soaker hoses, hose splitters and watering wands. It’s worth it to spend a little extra money on the tools you use the most — good tools really do make gardening tasks easier and more enjoyable.

This month

• Don’t dig or work the soil when it’s wet — you’ll end up with clods that’ll stick around for months.

• If you haven’t already, cut ‘Annabelle’ hydrangeas, caryopteris and butterfly bush back to just a few inches tall. It seems drastic, but they’ll fill in quickly and be more dense and better shaped than if you try to just trim back the winter-killed areas.

• Plant radishes as soon as you can work the soil.

• Cut back old asparagus and rhubarb tops.

• Start turning your compost again.

Check out this book

There’s still a little time to dream of the perfect gar­den before you have to start spring cleanup. Read “In Search of Paradise: Great Gardens of the World,” by Penelope Hobhouse. The gardens in this book are out of reach for most gardeners — but that way you can en­joy them without worrying that your garden doesn’t look like that! But you might find a plant combination or a great idea that will work in your own backyard.

Stephanie Bruner is a freelance writer in Des Moines who has a degree in horticulture.